Dalhousie is consistently named among Canada's top research universities. It is a member of the Group of Thirteen, more commonly referred to as the G13, a group of the leading research universities in Canada.

In 2003 and 2004, The Scientist magazine placed Dalhousie among the top five places in the world, outside the United States, for postdoctoral work and conducting scientific research.[2] In 2007 Dalhousie topped the list of The Scientist’s “Best Places to Work in Academia”. The annual list divides research and academic institutions into American and international lists; Dalhousie University is ranked first in the international category.[3] According to a survey conducted by The Scientist magazine, Dal was named the best non-commercial scientific institute in which to work in Canada.[4]

Dalhousie University was ranked as the seventh-best university (Medical Doctoral Rankings) in Canada by Maclean's Magazine in 2009.[5] In the 2010 edition of the annual Times Higher Education SupplementWorld University Rankings, Dalhousie ranked 7th in Canada and 193rd internationally.[6] The first ever Global University Ranking (2009), compiled by a Russian organization that ranks the top 500 global universities [7] places Dalhousie 8th in Canada and 180th in the world.[8] In addition, Maclean's ranked Dalhousie's law school sixth overall for two consecutive years.[9][10]